Pleas of the Crown in United Kingdom

Pleas of the Crown and Medieval Law

Pleas of the Crown and Legal History

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See Also

• Pleading (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Pleading (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Canon Law (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Crusader Privileges (in this legal Encyclopedia)
• Exchequer (in this legal Encyclopedia)

Bibliographies of English Law History

• Maxwell, William H. A Legal Bibliography of the British Commonwealth of Nations. Volume 1: English Law to 1800. London: Sweet and Maxwell, 1955-
• Beale, Joseph H. A Bibliography of Early English Law Books. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1926.
• Winfield, Percy H. The Chief Sources of English Legal History. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1925.

English Law: Pleas of the Crown in the Past

This phrase is now employed to signify criminal (see more about this popular legal topic in the U.K. encyclopedia) causes in which the king is a party. Formerly it signified royal causes for offences of a greater magnitude than mere misdemeanors. These were left to be tried in the courts of the barons, but the greater offences or royal causes, were to be tried in the king’s courts, under the appellation of pleas of the crown. Robertson’s Hist. of Charles V., vol. 1, p. 48. [1][rtbs name=”history-of-english-law”]

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Notes and References

1. Partialy, this information about pleas of the crown is based on the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, 1848 edition. There is a list of terms of the Bouvier´s Law Dictionary, including pleas of the crown.

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Concept of Pleas of the Crown

Traditional meaning of pleas of the crown [1] in the English common law history: A phrase in English law signifying criminal causes in which the King is a prosecutor; see 4th Book (“Of Public Wrongs”), Blackstone’s Commentaries on the Laws of England 2. [rtbs name=”history-of-english-law”]

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Notes and References

1. Based on A concise law dictionary of words, phrases and maxims, “Pleas of the Crown”, Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1911, United States. This term and/or definition may be absolete. It is also called the Stimson’s Law dictionary, based on a glossary of terms, included Pleas of the Crown.

See Also